The beauty guide – Essentials

Sunday January 29th 2017

At Lipstick and Curls we eat, sleep and breath beauty and beauty products and with a large
team of artists on board we are fanatical about using the best products for our
clients. Our artists tell us on a regular basis of new and wonderful products that
they have discovered and we want to share this information with you! Below are
just a few of our ‘must have’s’ for your wedding day.

Face Primer

A face
primer is not to be confused with a moisturiser and should be used as well as.
A prime is to be applied about 30 mins after moisturiser and as a prep before
foundation. Primers can do many wonderful things, balance the skin (either
hydrate or manage oil secretion around the T zone) calm redness and tone and
tighten the skin prior to make up application. The best reason for using a
primer is it acts as a barrier between the make-up and the skin. It helps the
base stay in place and give it a perfect finish for a longer duration. We love,
Touch
Glorious Primer by Younique.

Eyeshadow Primer

More
companies are doing a product of this kind and it is a great product and a must
for a wedding day. On our face our eyes produce the most oil throughout the
course of the day. So, if you can imagine you have spent time blending products
on the eye they will crease as the oil passed through to the surface. Also, our
eyes move a great deal and are exposed to weather elements and of course tears
making it even harder to keep everything in the same place for the entire day.
The eye primer I am fond of and that I am using on my brides is by Kryolan
this is a tinted product so I find it takes out a lot of the pigmentation in
the eye prior to applying colour and shade. I also find it not to be too heavy
and too heavily pigmented it just creates a soft base that is great for shadow
application and blending. I get great feedback form my brides as it helps the make-up
to stay throughout the day.

Loose Powder

The powder
is one of the last products you apply to finish and set the base. Therefore,
after you have spent so much time getting everything else perfect you then don’t
want to go and spoil the finish with a heavy powder that could change the look.
For this reason, I often see ladies will leave this out of their beauty
routine, which is fine for every day but I feel it would be needed on a wedding
day as you want your make up looking fresh for as long as possible. Common
mistakes with a loose powder, cheap heavy chalky powders can be too heavy and
absorb all the dewiness from the base giving it a heavy (sometimes ageing
appearance) also some powders are tinted and can change the colour of the
foundation making it look ash in colour or even giving an orange tint! Choose a
very fine powder that is designed to set your foundation not dominate it. I
prefer a translucent over tinted as it won’t change the base colour. Apply with
a powder brush not a pad, press the product lightly into the skin before
dusting off the excess. Our absolute favourite is Mac Pro Prep and Prime finishing
powder.

Lip Sealants

Make Up
artists have been using these products for the last 30 years if not longer
however with the popularity of heavily pigmented, matt lipsticks back in Vogue
these products are being used everywhere are more widely available. I am one of
those artists that have had this product in my kit for almost 20 years. A lip
product of this kind will seal and create a barrier on top of the lipstick
stopping coming of on her teeth, glasses and other people’s faces! A must for a
bride and we love Lipcote, the original and the best!

Face Scrub

So, we all
want flawless skin on our wedding day however we can’t rely on make-up alone to
help achieve this success. I am not a huge fan of expensive treatments in the
run up to the wedding day yet I am a firm believer in taking care of your skin every
day, especially in the run up to a special occasion or event. I can’t tell you
how amazing facial exfoliation can be for a dewy glowing skin! It is a fact
that our face has lots of dead skin cells on its surface and the scrubbing
action gently removes the dead skin making way for the new healthy skin and
encouraging cell regeneration. All you need is a light face scrub (with small grains,
not scratchy large pieces) and use for 2 mins for at least 3 times per week. I
use my scrub EVERY day and I couldn’t live without I, it was a beauty tip given
to me when I was in my 20’s and one I share with all my brides and the results
are of course amazing!!! There are so many great ones out there it is hard to
choose my favourite however I have discovered a wonderful brand called Sukin
and they have an amazing product called Super Greens facial scrub.

Argon Oil (Moroccan Oil)

Lots of my
brides will begin growing their hair for their wedding day. Long hair need lots
of care and hair treatments are often overlooked. On the day of the wedding I
prefer my brides to have clean dry hair in its natural state without any
products. However, it is important that in the run up to the big day we keep
our locks as conditioned and has healthy and strong as we possibly can. Argon
oil is my favourite but coconut oil is also very effective for this treatment
too. Apply the oil on clean damp hair, paying special attention to the ends of
the hair where the hair is more dry and delicate. Twist the hair onto the top
of the head and cover with cling film. Take a nice warm towel (I usually put
mine on a radiator beforehand) and wrap this around your hair on top of the
cling film. Sit and relax for at least an hour before washing as normal. I do
know people who sleep in this treatment and wash out in the morning! Dr
Organic does a great pure Argon oil.